Year-long mystery of missing Steven

Jan 2 2009 By Katie Campling

THE family of a missing Colne Valley man are facing the first anniversary of his disappearance.

Steven Cooper’s family have had to get through their first Christmas and new year without him since he disappeared from Golcar on January 21 last year, his 47th birthday.

And despite a huge search the length and breadth of the country there has been no definite trace of him.

It is a situation mirrored in households across Britain, with loved ones vanishing without trace and often without a reason.

Steven’s sister, Trish Cooper, of New Mill, said: "We are struggling a bit now it’s coming up to a year and we had our first Christmas without him. The not knowing is very difficult.

"We just want him home. We want to know he is safe. Everything goes through your head is he alive, dead, suffering or OK."

Steven walked out of his home in Scar Lane at 3.40am on January 21. He left behind his driving licence, passport and bank cards and did not take a change of clothes.

The car was later found near an isolated hamlet called Moy, 20 miles east of Fort William in the Scottish Highlands.

Nearby Loch Laggan has been scanned with sonar equipment and teams from the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue organisation – which mounted its biggest-ever search – have scoured the area.

But there has been no sign of Steven.

He has Marfan Syndrome, a genetic disorder which affects the body’s connective tissues which provide support and structure to other tissue and organs. It can affect the heart, lungs, skin, skeleton and eyes.

Steven was in pain and could not work, but his family did not think he was unduly depressed.

His disappearance has left Trish, his partner, Claire Lodge, and her two children, Zoe, 18, and 15-year-old Ian in limbo.

Steven also has a 20-year-old son, Nathan, who has been to Scotland with his aunt and uncle to help in the search.

Nathan, who lives at Cowlersley, has found his father’s disappearance hard to cope with, especially on his birthday at the start of December.